The world’s best salted caramel brownies

Promise me. PROMISE me you will make these brownies. Today, if possible. They may be the most delicious baked delicacies I’ve ever made. Ever. So long as you like chocolate and caramel. You know, so long as you have taste buds.

The recipe is from the genius Deb at Smitten Kitchen. I’ve made it as-is three times, and the trouble you’re likely to face is that the caramel may melt into the brownies such that there are no pockets of melty caramel. This isn’t bad, per se, but it won’t allow the brownies to top the amazingness scale. Thus: Make sure you cook the caramel until it’s coppery and lovely–several minutes, once you add all the ingredients–and then let it really firm up in the freezer.

Melty caramel goodness.

The recipe makes an 8×8 pan of seriously, seriously rich brownies. It looks complicated but I promise, it takes very little expertise and not much time. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Directions:Salted Caramel
1. Line a medium plate with parchment that is sprayed with cooking oil or butter
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the sugar over medium-high heat. It sounds weird, but just put the sugar into an empty pan and after a few minutes, it will start to bubble and melt.
3. Cook until a nice copper color but don’t leave it unattended. If it burns, start over!
4. Remove pan from heat, stir in butter.
5. Stir in cream and salt.
6. Return saucepan to medium heat and simmer for a few minutes until a shade darker.
7. Pour caramel onto the parchment covered plate and put in the freezer for 30 minutes or until firm.
8. Don’t you dare try to multi-task during this process or you’re burn the caramel. (She says, speaking from experience.)Brownies
1. When the caramel is almost firm, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8×8 square baking pan with greased parchment.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or medium bowl over simmering water.
3. Remove from heat and stir until all bits are incorporated. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
4. Whisk in sugar and then eggs, one at a time, making sure that the batter is cool enough that the eggs won’t cook!
5. Stir in vanilla and salt, and then the flour.

Assembly
1. When the caramel is firm, chop it into rough 1-inch pieces. Eat a couple to make sure it’s edible, of course.
2. Fold most of the caramel bits into the brownie batter, then pour into the prepared pan
3. Sprinkle remaining bits over the batter and bake for 30-ish minutes, until a toothpick comes clean. The last time I made these, it took about 40 minutes and the toothpick was full of caramel. Not a bad state of affairs.
4. Allow to firm up and cool, popping into the fridge or freezer if you’re impatient (like me).